2009-02-11 (meeting minutes)City of Atlantic Beach Tree Conservation Board
Regular Meeting Minutes
February 11, 2009
A regular meeting of the City of Atlantic Beach Tree Conservation Board was
convened at 7:00 pm on Wednesday February 11, 2009 at the Adele Grage
Cultural Center, located at 716 Ocean Boulevard in Atlantic Beach. In attendance
were Board members Stephanie Catania, Jim McCue, Brea Paul, Frank Redmond,
Maureen Shaughnessy, and Principal Planner/Staff Liaison Erika Hall. The
position of Recording Secretary remained vacant.
1. CALL TO ORDER
^ Chairperson Maureen Shaughnessy called the meeting to order at 7:OOpm.
2. ATTENDANCE & RECOGNITION OF VISITORS
^ All Board members were present. There were no visitors.
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Chair Shaughnessy called for a motion to approve the minutes from the January 14th regular
meeting.
MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 14T" MEETING, AS WRITTEN.
Moved by Jim McCue, seconded by Stephanie Catania and approved by unanimous vote.
4. ELECTION OF 2009 OFFICERS
Board members inquired as to the need to elect officers, saying they had typically appointed
the person with the most seniority as Chair in the past. Ms. Hall explained there is a provision
for the election of officers in the newly adopted version of Chapter 23, as well as the previous
version.
^ CHAIRPERSON
MOTION TO APPOINT MAUREEN SHAUGHNESSY AS CHAIR OF THE TREE CONSERVATION
BOARD FOR 2009. Moved by Jim McCue, seconded by Stephanie Catania. Ms. Hall read
Section 23-14(g)(1): "The Board shall elect a Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, each of
which shall serve one (1) year terms. Board members shall not hold the same office for
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Minutes of the February 11, 2009 Regular Meeting of the Tree Conservation Board
more than two (2) consecutive terms," explaining that the original provision had been
revised with the inclusion of the last statement which limits the terms of office. However,
the Board interpreted this to be a new provision which did not require them to consider Ms.
Shaughnessy's previous five years as Chairperson. The vote was called and carried
unanimously.
^ VICE-CHAIRPERSON
MOTION TO APPOINT STEPHANIE CATANIA AS VICE-CHAIR OF THE TREE CONSERVATION
BOARD FOR 2009. Moved by Jim McCue, seconded by Maureen Shaughnessy. Ms. Catania
asked to not be appointed because she would be away over the summer. Ms. Shaughnessy
withdrew her second and Mr. McCue withdrew his motion.
MOTION TO APPOINT BREA PAUL AS VICE-CHAIR OF THE TREE CONSERVATION BOARD
FOR 2009. Moved by Jim McCue, seconded by Stephanie Catania and carried unanimously.
^ CONTACT INFORMATION
Ms. Hall distributed a draft contact list and said she would make corrections as needed and
distribute the final version at the next meeting.
5. ADOPTION OF RULES OF PROCEDURE
Board members inquired as to the need to adopt rules of procedure. Ms. Hall explained that
this is a normal point of organizational business which establishes the standards or ground rules
under which a board or committee will operate. She added that the City Commission had
recently, by Resolution OS-13, pledged support for the Florida League of Cities' "Building
Citizenship in the Community: Back to the Basics" Initiative, which stresses the importance of
properly conducting public meetings so as to encourage citizen participation and
understanding. Subsequently, Mayor Meserve requested that the City's Boards and
Committees follow suit and adopt consistent rules of order and that all members attend a
training session in the near future. Ms. Hall said that she understood this Board had tended to
be more informal in the past, but she realized that it was increasingly becoming more and more
disorderly. Besides being a challenge for the person taking minutes, it also presents an
unprofessional appearance to applicants and public in general. Ms. Catania agreed that there
has been a tendency for Board members to all talk at the same time, in the same fashion as
some obnoxious news shows.
Ms. Hall presented each Board member with a laminated QuickStudy Reference Guide for
Parliamentary Procedure based upon the principles of Robert's Rules of Order. Additionally,
she noted that Community Development Director Sonya Doerr had scheduled a training session
for all Board & Committee members on Wednesday February 25th, 6:OOpm in Commission
Chambers. Several members said they had attended training in the past and questioned the
need to attend again, but Ms. Hall reiterated that this session was mandatory per the Mayor's
request and direction she had received from her supervisors.
No action was taken to adopt rules of procedure.
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Minutes of the February 11, 2009 Regular Meeting of the Tree Conservation Board
6. APPROVAL OF 2009 CALENDAR
Ms. Hall distributed a schedule of meetings for the upcoming year and asked Board members to
review and confirm that the schedule was suitable. She explained to new member Frank
Redmond that the Chapter 23 revisions adopted the same night he was appointed changed the
Board's meetings from twice a month to only once a month. However, there is always the
option of calling a special meeting should business arise that requires action in the interim. Ms.
Hall also noted that the November meeting was tentatively scheduled for the third Wednesday
rather than the second, which happens to be Veterans' Day this year. There were no objections
to the schedule. Thus, the Board shall meet on the following dates for the remainder of 2009:
March 11, April 8, May 13, June 10, July 8, August 12, September 9, October 14, November 18*,
and December 9.
7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
^ There was no unfinished business up for consideration.
8. NEW BUSINESS
^ There was no new business up for consideration.
9. STAFF LIAISON'S REPORT
^ ATLANTIC POINT OFFICE CONDOS (MAYPORT ROAD)
Ms. Hall reported that she had sent a letter reminding owners of the property located on
Mayport Road just north of Stanley Road and south of River City Cabinetry of the City's tree
removal policies and procedures. Apparently a tree removal permit was obtained in
December of 2006, but the project never moved forward and that permit subsequently
expired. However, she noticed that there is red tape on a number of trees and that the lot
has been under-brushed in recent months such that she can see through to the homes on
Forsyth Court. After sending the letter and copying various City departments, Ms. Hall was
informed by Code Enforcement Officer Alex Sherrer that he and Community
Redevelopment Coordinator Dale Hatfield had instructed the property owners to
underbrush and clean up the lots which were being used as a campground by vagrants. Ms.
Hall expressed concern that some trees may have been removed in the process though,
noting that it is typical for residents to liberally interpret specific directions to do one thing
as blanket permission to proceed with more drastic actions. She confirmed to the Board
that she had located a copy of the original tree survey submitted though, and would await a
response from the property owners.
^ ROBERTS MT PISGAH AME CHURCH (WALTER ROAD)
Ms. Hall reported that she had met with a representative of the Church's building
committee to review the tree survey and advise them on preparing their application. She
said that there would be in excess of 1000" removed, but there are plans to do extensive
landscaping to include the creation of a garden for weddings and social events. The Church
hopes to begin construction sometime this summer, so they will probably submit their tree
removal application in the next couple of months.
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Minutes of the February 11, 2009 Regular Meeting of the Tree Conservation Board
^ MONTHLY REPORT
Ms. Hall said that she had created a "monthly report" in anticipation of the City Manager
requesting that such a summary be given to the Commission since the tree removal permit
process now required the collection of application fees. However, Mr. Hanson indicated
that a yearly report would be sufficient. Ms. Hall said she would continue to present the
monthly summary of permit activity to the Board though.
10.ADJOURNMENT
^ Chairperson Maureen Shaughnessy adjourned the meeting at 7:55pm.
~~~~~~~
SIGNED: Maureen Shaughnessy, C,h~irperson
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~~(3 2ao9
ATTEST: Erika Hall, Principal Planner/Staff Liaison
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